By Mark Doyle

The Argentine was rushed back to face Bayern on Tuesday and put in a toothless performance as Barcelona lost 4-0 at the Allianz Arena

Josep Maria Minguella has claimed that Lionel Messi's father told him that the Barcelona forward was not fit for the first leg of his side's Champions League semi-final clash with Bayern Munich.

The Argentine's participation in the Allianz Arena clash had been in doubt right up until just a couple of hours before kick-off, with the 25-year-old having failed to feature for the Blaugrana in all but one game since sustaining a hamstring injury against Paris Saint-Germain on April 2.

TheCatalans eventually slumped to a 4-0 loss, with Messi putting in a disappointing performance and Minguella believes he was not fit enough to feature.

"His father told me at lunch that he was not able to play," the agent-turned-pundit is quoted as saying by Marca.

Barcelona will be hoping that Messi is fully fit when they meet Bayern again in the second leg at Camp Nou on May 1 as they look to produce an unlikely comeback.